Saint John - Chapter 11
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| The raising of Lazarus. J-J Tissot |
And said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see.
And said, Where have ye laid him, &c. Christ knew the place where Lazarus was buried: for, as S. Augustine argues, Didst thou know that he was dead, and art ignorant where he is buried? Yet He asked the question; because He acted with men after a human manner, and by the inquiry prepared Himself, and cleared the way for the raising up of Lazarus; and excited the attention at once of Mary, Martha, and the Jews, so that they should watchfully consider the words and actions of Christ, who was about to raise him.
Symbolically, S. Gregory says: Christ recalling to the women the sin of Eve, says, “I have placed the man in Paradise whom ye have placed in the tomb.”
Come and see. Eagerly they invite Jesus to come and see, hoping that He who had raised up strangers’ dead, would raise up also Lazarus His intimate associate, who was so beloved by Him. Whence, mystically, the Gloss: “'See', that is 'pity';” for, as S. Augustine says, the Lord sees when He pities, according to this, “Look upon my adversity, and forgive me all my sins.” S. Chrysostom, and after him Theophylact: He seemed to them about to go thither that He might weep, not that He might raise up [the dead].
[35] Et lacrimatus est Jesus.
And Jesus wept.
Jesus wept. At seeing the sepulchre of Lazarus (although Chrysostom supposes that He wept when He groaned and was troubled, which is equally probable), to signify His love for him, and the grief He felt at his death.
Secondly, that He might weep with the sisters and the Jews who were weeping, and teach us to do the same. So S. Augustine. Hear S. Ambrose: “Christ became all things to all men; poor to the poor, rich to the rich, weeping with the weeping, hungering with the hungry, thirsting with the thirsty, full with the abounding; He is in prison with the poor man, with Mary He weeps, with the Apostles He eats, with the Samaritan woman he thirsts.
Thirdly, that adding tears to His speech, He might make it stronger and more efficacious; for tears are a sign of vehement grief and affliction, and also of desire and longing: wherefore God is accustomed to hear and answer prayers seasoned, and as it were armed, with tears. So Christ on the [eve of the] Cross offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, was heard in that He feared. [E. &c Heb. 5:7, pro suâ reverentiâ, Vulg.] So Tobit (12:12) heard from S. Raphael, “When thou didst pray with tears [the words “with tears,” cum lacrymis, are not in the LXX Greek], and didst bring the dead, … I brought thy prayer before the Lord.” So Jacob, wrestling with the angel, obtained a blessing (Gen. 32:29). Wherefore? because he wept and besought him (Hosea 12:4). “The tears of penitents,” says S. Bernard, “are the wine of angels.” For it is the anguish of the mind in prayer which influences, and as it were compels God to pity, according as it is said, “a contrite and humble heart God shall not despise” (Ps. 51:17); just as the tears of an infant influence the mother, and obtain from her what it asks; for God shows toward us the heart of a mother.
Other writers give different causes for the tears of Christ.
- First, Cyril says that Christ wept for the miseries of the human race brought in by sin.
- Secondly, Andrew Cretensis says that He wept for the unbelief of the Jews, and because they would not believe in Christ, even after they had seen the miracle of the raising of Lazarus.
- Thirdly, Isidore of Pelusium and Rupertus think that Christ wept for the very reason that he was about to recall Lazarus out of Limbo, that is, from the haven and state of peace, to the storms, dangers, and sufferings of this life.
Further, we read that Christ wept thrice:
- here at the death of Lazarus;
- at the Cross (Heb. 5:7);
- at the sight of Jerusalem, and its impending ruin (Luke 19:41).
[36] Dixerunt ergo Judaei : Ecce quomodo amabat eum.
The Jews therefore said: Behold how he loved him.
[37] Quidam autem ex ipsis dixerunt : Non poterat hic, qui aperuit oculos caeci nati, facere ut hic non moreretur?
But some of them said: Could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind, have caused that this man should not die?
And some of them said, Could not this man, &c. Certainly He was able to do that, but would not, because He had determined to do something far greater, namely, to raise him up when dead and four days buried, which the Jews thought impossible, and therefore wondered that Christ had not hindered the death of Lazarus.
[38] Jesus ergo rursum fremens in semetipso, venit ad monumentum. Erat autem spelunca, et lapis superpositus erat ei.
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it.
Jesus therefore, again groaning in Himself, &c. Note that Christ was here thrice greatly distressed, and wept.
- First, when He sees Mary and the Jews weeping (ver. 33).
- Secondly, when He saw the sepulchre of Lazarus (ver. 34).
- Thirdly, here, when He came to it, to show how pitiable was the lot of Lazarus when dead, and typically of sinners spiritually dead by their sins, and hereafter to die perpetually in the torments of hell. For it was they who drew forth from Him in the agony of His Passion tears of blood (Luke 22:44).
Mystically, S. Augustine says: “This stone denotes the Mosaic Law, which was written on tables of stone, and included all under sin.”
Typically, the same says (Serm. 44, on S. John): “That mass placed on the sepulchre is the force of evil custom with which the soul is weighed down, nor permitted to rise up nor breathe.”
[39] Ait Jesus : Tollite lapidem. Dicit ei Martha, soror ejus qui mortuus fuerat : Domine, jam foetet, quatriduanus est enim.
Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days.
Jesus said: Take ye away the stone. Jesus commanded this, first, that when the stone was taken away the Jews might both see the body of Lazarus, and smell that it was corrupted, [quaere: bodies of certain saints remaining incorrupt] and so think his raising a work of more power. Secondly, that He might speak in the presence of the body of Lazarus, and bringing it dead before God should obtain of Him that it be raised up.
Typically, S. Bernard (Serm. 4, De Assump.): “Let the stone be taken away, but let penitence remain, no longer weighing down and burdening the mind, but confirming and rendering it living and strong; yes, let its food be to do the will of the Lord, which before it knew not.” So also training does not now constrain him who is free, as it is said, “The law is not made for the righteous; but rules and directs one who pays it a voluntary obedience into the way of peace.”
Martha, the sister of him that was dead, &c. Mystically, S. Augustine says: “Lazarus four days dead signifies a sinner buried in the habit of sin, and as it were despaired of. The Lord then came, to whom in truth all things were easy, and yet made manifest a difficulty.”
He groaned in spirit. He showed there was need of blame and loud reproof to those who have become hardened by custom. Yet at the loud voice of the Lord the bonds of necessity have been broken; the tyranny of hell trembled; Lazarus is restored living. Truly the Lord frees also those who are four days dead by evil habit; for Lazarus was sleeping to Christ when He willed to raise him.
[40] Dicit ei Jesus : Nonne dixi tibi quoniam si credideris, videbis gloriam Dei?
Jesus saith to her: Did not I say to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?
Jesus said unto her, &c. This is the same as “Thou shalt see My glory, I who am God and the Son of God.” So Leontius and Euthymius.
But where did Christ say this to Martha? We answer, Christ said that not in precise words, but virtually and in effect He said it when the messengers were sent by Martha (ver. 4), when He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” So S. Chrysostom. Again, and more clearly, to Martha herself, in verses 23 and 25.
If thou wouldst believe. Christ arouses the wavering faith and hope of Martha; for although she when she met Christ before had said, “I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God” (vers. 22 and 27), yet when it came to the point, when I say, Christ, just about to raise up Lazarus, ordered the sepulchre to be opened, Martha began to totter; wherefore she said, “Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.” She had therefore alternate impulses of grace and nature, of faith and distrust, of hope and despair, concerning the resurrection of Lazarus, such as we experience in ourselves: when looking to God we hope that we shall overcome all things, however difficult; but when looking to our own infirmity, when we ought to advance against some difficulty, we hesitate, we tremble, and almost disbelieve that it can be accomplished by us. So recruits before a battle show great boldness, but when the battle commences, at the first onset of the enemy they fear and fly. Whence it is said: “In peace lions, in battle stags.” But veteran soldiers before the battle tremble as stags, but in the battle they stand and fight as lions. By this difference you may distinguish the veteran from the tyro.
[41] Tulerunt ergo lapidem : Jesus autem, elevatis sursum oculis, dixit : Pater, gratias ago tibi quoniam audisti me.
They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes said: Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me.
Then they took away the stone. Which being taken away, the corpse of Lazarus, fetid and decaying, appeared; so that it was evident to all that he was really dead, and that Christ brought his very body, just as it was, before God by prayers, and presented it to be raised up.
And Jesus lifted up His eyes. To God the Father, that He might teach us to raise our eyes and still more hearts to God in heaven when we pray. S. John Damascene (in Catenâ) adds, that Christ looked up to heaven, as to His own land, to signify that He had come thence upon earth.
And said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. Hence some think that Christ when He groaned in spirit (ver. 33) besought the Father, mentally, to raise up Lazarus, and received an answer from Him that Lazarus was to be raised up by Him; and that therefore Christ says here, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. This is probable.
But evidently it is as if He had said: I thank Thee, O Father, because Thou hast always and constantly hitherto heard Me when I prayed, and especially now, when, though silently and in the mind, I invoke and beseech Thee for the raising up of Lazarus; for Thou didst grant to Me, that soon I shall raise him up. Hence Christ teaches us how to pray, that in the beginning of prayer we should surely thank God for benefits received. This giving of thanks conciliates God’s favour to us, and inclines Him to bestow the new blessings which we beg for. For he who is grateful for the lesser gifts, merits to receive the greater. This is the faithful prayer of sons, whence Christ adds:
[42] Ego autem sciebam quia semper me audis, sed propter populum qui circumstat, dixi : ut credant quia tu me misisti.
And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because, &c., i.e., what I said aloud (ver. 41).
[43] Haec cum dixisset, voce magna clamavit : Lazare, veni foras.
When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth.
And when He had thus spoken, &c. First, to show this voice to have great and prevailing authority, by which He was raising up Lazarus from death, as God ruling nature and death. Whence Cyril says, His command is kingly, and worthy of God: Lazarus, come forth. For He said this not as praying, but as bidding and commanding. A loud voice, then, signifies the great force and power which recalled Lazarus from death to life. For this was a most difficult work, and therefore required supreme and Divine power, as also a fitting voice.
Symbolically and mystically, the cause was, to represent with this loud voice the trumpet-voice of the Archangel in the day of judgment, by which all the dead shall be raised. Whence SS. Chrysostom, Cyril, Theophilus, Euthymius, assert that Christ here willed to show in action what He had said in 5:25, “The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live.” Hear S. Ambrose (De Fide Resur.): The Lord shows thee in what manner thou shalt rise. For He did not raise up one Lazarus only, but the faith of all; and if, when thou readest, thou believest this, thy mind also, which was dead, receives life with that Lazarus. For what means it that the Lord drew near to the tomb, and cried with aloud voice: Lazarus, come forth,—unless that He might afford us a specimen, might give us an example, of the future resurrection? Why did He cry aloud with His voice, as if He were not accustomed by His Spirit alone to perform [mighty works], as if He were not accustomed to command without speech? but that He might show what is written, “In the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52).
Typically, the loud voice of Christ signifies the great impulse of arousing grace, by which the sinner needs to be called forth from the custom of evil in which he lies buried, to grace and a new life. So S. Augustine. Hence Eph. 5:14, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life.”
Lazarus. He calls him by his proper name: lest, as says S. Ambrose, he might seem as one raised up for another, or his resurrection more by chance than by command. Again, He addresses the dead man as living, because all the dead live unto God, says S. Chrysostom.
Come forth. Not as if thou wert already risen, and only now wast to show thyself beyond the sepulchre, as Origen wrongly infers from hence: but, Rise, return from the dark and hidden caves of death and Hades; return, O soul of Lazarus, from the farthest limits of the Limbus Patrum into this body, and thence into the life, air, and light common to all living beings.
[44] Et statim prodiit qui fuerat mortuus, ligatus pedes, et manus institis, et facies illius sudario erat ligata. Dixit eis Jesus : Solvite eum et sinite abire.
And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him, and let him go.
And he that was dead came forth, &c. The power of the voice of Christ is made manifest, which instantly raised up the dead man, so that the things spoken might be done.
Grave-clothes, bindings for the sepulchre, with which the hands and feet of the dead man are bound, so that they may be inserted and decently composed in a narrow receptacle. The Arabic translates linen cloths; Nonnus, “he had his whole body from foot to head bound with manifold wrappings for the grave.”
And his face was bound about with a napkin: in the manner of the Jews, that the fact of death might be signified, and the pale and fearful visage of the dead might strike no one with horror.
You will ask, Why did Christ, in raising the dead man, not at the same time unloose his bonds?
SS. Augustine, Chrysostom, Cyril, Leontius, and others reply that the Jews might see that the same Lazarus was raised up, who a little before had been swathed as dead, by themselves, with those bands and napkin, and was not a phantom, or some other man hidden in the sepulchre, to make a feigned appearance.
Secondly, that the miracle was twofold: that the first was the raising up the dead man; the second that he when raised up should immediately walk with his feet bound and his face covered, and come forth from his sepulchre straight to Jesus.
Typically, S. Gregory: Our Redeemer raised up a maiden in the house, a young man outside the gate [of the city], but Lazarus in the sepulchre.
- So he lies as it were still dead in the house, who is secretly sunk in sin.
- He is, as it were, brought outside the gate, whose iniquity reveals itself even to the shamelessness of public commission.
- But he is weighed down with the mound of the grave, who in the committing of wickedness is loaded with the weight of habit.
But these He pities and recalls to life, in that very often by Divine grace He enlightens with the brightness of His countenance those dead not only in secret but even in open sins, and oppressed by the weight of evil custom.
S. Augustine says: Lazarus going forth from the sepulchre is the soul drawing back from carnal vices, but bound, that is, not yet freed from pains and troubles of the flesh, while it dwells in the body; the face is covered with a napkin, for we cannot have full understanding of things in this life; but it is said, “Loose him,” for after this life the veilings are taken away, that we may see face to face.
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go. To his home. Jesus addressed this command to the Jews, that they, handling Lazarus, might as it were touch and handle with their hands the miracle that was wrought by Him, and [see] that he was raised up.
Symbolically, Christ sends sinners bound with the bands of their sins to bishops and priests, that they may be released and absolved, saying, Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt. 18:18). So also S. Augustine. “What is it,” he says, “to loose and let him go? What ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.”
Finally, there is no doubt (though John is silent upon it) that Lazarus rendered great thanks to Christ; and that he dedicated his life to Him from whom he had received it. He became a disciple, a preacher, and the Bishop of Marseilles.
[45] Multi ergo ex Judaeis, qui venerant ad Mariam, et Martham, et viderant quae fecit Jesus, crediderunt in eum.
Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha, and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him.
Then many of the Jews … believed on Him. For they were convinced by the evidence of the miraculous raising of Lazarus, so great and wonderful, that Jesus was a prophet, yea, more, the Messiah, as He professed.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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